AFK
what it means
One of the oldest internet abbreviations still in daily use. In team games it's also an accusation, since an AFK player is effectively a missing teammate.
Away From Keyboard — temporarily not at your device.
the origin story
Internet Relay Chat and early online communities in the 1980s-90s.
It survived every shift in online communication, from IRC to MMOs to Discord. "Going AFK" became standard etiquette in games where disappearing without warning is disruptive, and "AFK farming" describes leaving a character running unattended.
in the wild
AFK two minutes, door.
No problem.
One of ours has been AFK the whole match.
That's why we're losing.
how to use it
- Announcing a short absence
- Gaming and chat contexts
- Explaining a delay
- In professional messaging, where plain words work better
- Where the abbreviation is unfamiliar
- For long absences, which need more explanation
related terms
receipts
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